Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (Chinese Raw Marinated Crab)

I love ganjang gejang which is Korean raw marinated crab, but my mom introduced me to Chiang Xie/嗆蟹 (although pronounced chiang ha in the regional dialect) which is Chinese style raw marinated crab. She bought it from a side dish take out place in Flushing and BOY OH BOY it is just as delicious and puts away rice like nothing else. It’s quick marinated, so more like raw crab sashimi with a sauce.

In some ways, I like this better than ganjang gejang for the ease of storage—my issue with gejang is that after marinating it for a day or two, it sometimes goes bad before I can eat all of it. You can freeze it after marinating, but it doesn’t taste as good to me. Once washed and quick brined with a water, high alcohol, and salt mixture for an hour or two, I store the chiang xie individually wrapped in the freezer, taking out only one at a time, chop it, and marinate in the sauce for about 30 minutes prior to eating. This way I only make as much as I can/want to eat at a time.

I don’t know why I couldn’t find any recipes in english for it, considering how popular it is the China, so I started looking in Chinese… only to find there are so many variations of this dish, some being family specific. So I tried to recreate the one my mom bought. I did add my own twist to it via freezing the crabs which some chefs claim makes the meat extra sweet and tender.

As always, consuming raw seafood increases the chances of foodborne illnesses.

Ingredients

• 6 dozen live female crabs (best when in roe fall-winter)
• 1 cup Gaoliang/Sorghum Liquor (but any clear high alcohol liquor, like vodka, will do) **OR you can use 2 cups of sake/rice wine with one cup of water and 1/4 cup salt.**
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup soy sauce plus 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin, sake, or shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons julienned ginger
• 2 tablespoons chopped scallions
• 2 tablespoons chopped red hot peppers (make sure it’s not too spicy, if you can’t handle any heat, sweet peppers work too)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon yuzu juice and zest, or 2-3 slices lemon, or a smidge of salt cured lemon puree (optional)
• a drizzle of sesame oil (optional)

1. Keep the live crabs in a bucket of running water for 20 minutes and then with a scrub brush carefully (without being pinched!) wash the crabs, taking care to scrub away the dirt between the carapace and the legs.
2. Dissolve the salt in the water, and add the liquor. Place the live crabs in a pot with this solution for about 2-3 hours. Remove crabs and individually wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients for the sauce together and allow flavors to combine in the fridge while waiting for the crabs to freeze.
4. Remove one crab (or however much you plan to eat), thaw very slightly under cold running water, just until you can remove the apron and the carapace, and the stomach and intestine line and lungs (I would rinse the cavity quickly after doing so). Cut the body in half, and then each half into 4-6 pieces. Drizzle sauce (with all the garnishes) all over the pieces and the carapace and serve either immediately or up to 30 minutes of marinating in the fridge.
5. ***Another way of marinating is with salt and rice wine vinegar, rather than soy sauce (the herbs remain the same). Try both!